So, we signed up for HBO. It was nice knowing you all.
Jesse immediately dived in and started DVRing movies. (Jesse, I swear Cyrus is on Netflix Instant-you don't need to take up DVR space with it!) I, on the other hand, wanted to start sampling all of those shows that everyone raves about but I'd been barred from since I (before now) refused to
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I've read somewhere that The Wire is a show that teaches you how to watch itself, and I actually think that's kind of true about most television. There's a tendency for audiences to say things like "that show got really good about four episodes in" or "that actor seemed to get comfortable in their role about a half hour into the movie" (which doesn't always make sense to me, since most movies aren't going to be shot strictly sequentially), and what that usually seems to mean to me is "I eventually became acclimated to the pace/performing rhythms/style/world of whatever I was watching." Now, obviously with something like a television show there actually is a learning curve where the people making it are actually figuring out what works and how to make the show they're working on as they go. So this does kind of operate along a spectrum (like I'd say Arrested Development and The Wire are more on the "you got used to what they were doing" end, while Parks and Recreation and the American Office are further on the "they improved/clarified their show" end). And it's further complicated in the case of an HBO show where they don't have to do the network thing of establishing everything in their pilot and then doing it again for the next four episodes, so you might still be getting vital inciting information a couple of episodes in. But generally I'd say that the best of those shows tend to be good for other reasons early enough that if it's not clicking for you after a couple of episodes, cut it loose. HBO being so creator-driven also gives their viewers some information here. I'd give Davids Simon or Milch the benefit of the doubt if a pilot didn't hook me because their previous shows have proven to be a pretty good map for what to expect from their follow-up shows.
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